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'IxiE 



SOLDIER'S EIGHT TO YOTE. 



WHO OPPOSES IT? WHO FAVORS IT? 



THE KECORD OF THE 



M'CLELLAN COPPERHEADS 



Against allowing tho Soldier who fights, the Right to Vot« 
while fighting. 



[PREPARED FOR THE UNION CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE,] 

By William E, Chandler, of N. H. 



<; 



WASHINGTON: 

PRINTED BY LEMUEL TOWERS. 

1864. 



~ /\ 



E^S? 



THE SOLDIER'S RIGHT TO VOTE, 



WHO OPPOSES IT? WHO FAVORS IT? 



If the Soldiers will Vote the Copperhead Ticket and Indorse th^ 

Chicago Surrender to Traitors hecause George B. M4>- 

Clellan is the Candidate fm" President^ why 

don't the Coppei'heads advocate giving 

them the right so to vote, 

^BR^H^IM LINCOLN 

And his Friends are WOT afrazd to Trust the Soldiers. 
Why are George B, McCielJan and his Friends afraid to Trust them? 



SOLDIERS! LOOK AT THE COPPERHEAD RECORD! 



No argument can be adduced more convincing to the candid mind that 
the real motives which actuate and contiol ^he McClellan politicians are 
base, unpatrotic, and knovyn by themselves to be destructive of the best 
inievest of tlie country, than their bitier and unyielding hostility enter- 
tained always, and boldly exhibited wlieiiever they dare or are forced pub- 
licly 10 declare th* mselves against the right of the soldiers in the army to 
vote as well as fight ; to exercise some contiol by voting over the manage- 
ment of that Government which they are fighting to preserve. 

The Copperhi ad leaders know tli^t the soidieis who are perilling (heir 
lives are undergoing bitter haidships, arw wimessing the death of their 
comrades on the bitile field for the salvation of the country, are not to be 
deceived in lela'ion to the great issues which are involved in the mighty 
conflict of arms, now engaging the ati-mion of the whole woild, between 
the soldiers of a free Republic, of a Peo|de's Government, and the armie* 
of a pro-slavery, rebellious despotism. Knowing, therefore, that the sol- 
diers, if they vote in the field, will vote larioticaliy, regardless of old party 
ti^s, and that no glittering generalities of era tily woided letters of aceep- 
anc- can blind the intelligentsoldier lo i lie esseitid treason of a paity plat- 
form like that, ad^p el at Chicago, and supp -ited by every rebel and traitor, 
North and South, the Copperhead Democracy have not hesitated to op- 



// 



|>OBe, by every means in their power, all attempts to confer upon soldiers 
in the field the right to vote. 

The methods of this opposition of the Copperheads have been various. 
They fear the toldieis and therefore oppose their light to vote, secretly and 
by indirection when they can, but openly if they must. E;trly in the re- 
bellion, when in some Statt-s the Deraucratic pai ty pretended to f upfiort the 
war, tbey even went so far as likewise to pr>-tend to a willingness to allow 
the soldiers to vote in the field, but when they believed they saw oiiportu- 
niiies to ra;ike political capital out of the miseries of their count, y, to ob- 
iaii) political power for Dera.icrats by reason of successive defeats of Unioa 
armiefi, and by the absence from ihe polls of Uuion voters on the battle- 
field, then they immediatefy exien.led those " constitutional i-crnples," 
which they have so hypocritically advanced against every distinctive ad- 
oaitiistrative measure adopted by Abraham Lincoln for prosecuiing the 
war with effect and pulling down the rebellion, to all proposiuons to con- 
fer upon the S(^ldiei8 in the field the right to vote. 

They have pretended to be willing the soldiers should vote in the field 
if they might constitutionally do 8.>, and yt t have opposed hraendmHnts of 
the Coiifituution which would allow the right. They have affected to fear 
that allowing so'diers to vote in the field would be productive of frauds, 
but no pcesible safeguards against fraud that can be devised and proposed 
to them, are sufficient to remove their pretended fears. In fact it la an ir- 
vresiible conclusion from the whole Copperhead record on the subject, of tie 
dgtit of the soldier to vote in the field. 

First. That the pretended cousiiiuiional scruples of the McClellan Dem- 
•i>rat8, their aflecitd fear of frauds, f-nd the advocacy of impracucdiJe and 
destructive amendments have all been deceitful, base, faise-heartefl, and 
C!>wardly assaults in the rear upoa the soldier; that whnt they aie ruoet 
afraid of is not the casting of uvconstitutuatal and illegal votea in ihe field, 
but that casting of the cengtitntiopal aud legal votes of the sold ers, which 
will in November overwhelm aijd annihilate McClellan, Pendleton and the 
infamous Ctiicago sunender to traitors. 

Second. That the Copperhead leaders have had no confidence whatever 
in tiieir boastings thit M. Clellan will cany the vote of the Army, but at 
feeart have known and felt that their infauious schemes of de.-tioying the 
Union and establishing a southern confederate despotism cou d only h% 
accomplished by deceiving the people who will vote at home and by depriv- 
ing the SOLDIERS confronting the aimies of the rebellion of the power to 
defeat their ireusoauble plans by voting in the field. 

Third. That, therefore, although democrats at some time may have pre- 
iended, hypocritically, to f^vor the soldiers' light to vote while secretly at- 
tempting to prevent arid destroy it, or m^y, through cowardly fear, have 
dfiiKl mnke no 0| position where it wou'd have been fruitless, yet that the 
actual positive present position of the C pperhead party and of George B. 
McUiellan, who, holding his lOmmission as Major General in tJie Union 
Army, a-sks for the suffrages <..f tiie soldies of that army, is that of open, 
undisguised, relentless hostility to the r'ght of the Union soldier to vt)te 
simply and sohly fur the reason that they believe the great majority ot the 
ioUien of the Army are not for Oeorge B. McClellan and the Copperheads, 
but ore for ABUAUAM LINCOLN, tlie CONSTITUTION .^nd the 
UNION. 



MAINE. 

Ta thft Pine Tree State with 30 Repub'icnn and 1 Democratic Senator 
and a 121 Ii»^pubJicaii and 29 D^ inociau<* lepfeeeniativ.-s, ihe Coppei lien* %^ 
alLhouuft. hitteily hostile to the ri^ht of soldiwia lo voie in the fit-Id mad© 
only H show of opposition ia the legislaiuie to a proposed Hmemlment, of 
the SiH'e Constitution se^'uriiig < he right. The vote he'bre the p^^opV, how- 
ever, si OW3 thst even 17,000 majority for the Union candidate for G-'V«f 
nor did not prevent the Copperhead ho tility t'roiv manifestuig it elf. 

In the whole State the vote was, G.)v. Cony. 62 389; Howard, 46,476, 
Constituiiunal Ameuduent, Y 8, 64,430; No, 19,127. 

The whole Union vot>e and ab-^ut 2,000 oth«r votts were cat-t fur the 
ametidmeiit, about 20,000 Detno<-rat8 boldly voted against it, and about. 
halftti'ir voters did not vote at all. 

In the counties, cities, and towns, where the vote for How«>d wms ih© 
ia'g^st, there whs he largest vote against the nmendment and 'hevoie o& 
lite Hin-n Iment sirikingiy corresponls lo the vote <or Governor. 

lu York county, always Democratic nntil one year ago, the vote wan : 

Cony. Howard. Yks. No. 

York 6484 6903 6425 4Q24 

Bangr..r, (the 2d city in the StHie) . . . 1668 791 1730 750 

Alfied 153 166 160 150 

Ber-ick 198 202 201 197 

Dayton 74 103 74 100 

Newdeld 144 171 146 162 

]No. Berwick 138 192 142 183 

Part-onfield 190 246 188 2;i5 

Sanifuro 210 267 214 268 

Waterborough 180 236 180 225 

And 80 the vote proceeds with no majorities against the amendment em- 
oept in Copperhead towns. 

JosKi'H HowAHD, the Copperhead Candidate foT OoverTwr, voted boldly 
and openly against, the ameudioem ; also Manassch Smith, oandidate i» 
1861 ; Phinbas Barnes, now a McClelian D-mocrat and a former candt- 
■dnie lor Governor; James W, Bradbury, formerly Democratic Utiife<? 
Slates Senator; Jameb S. Wiley, formerly Democrat<c member of Cou- 
gressfrom the Bingoi district; the editor of the Saco Democrat^ and mauj 
-©ther prominent D'lnocratp. 

It Mai. e bad given 17,000 majority for Joseph Hovtakd in8l«ad of for 
•Governor Cony, would the Maine soldiers have voted on the 8th <^ 
November I Let the record answer, 

NEW HAMPSHIRE. 

In the Granite State, the ancieut Gibraltar of New England Democracy, 
Ibe right for soldiers to vote in the field for Presid^^ntial electors and repro- 
sei'tativfS in Congress, hf*8 been secured only by the most determined pef- 
sistency on the p.irt of the Union Repubicana ander most discoui aging 
-«ij cumstances. 



In 1862 the Union members of the Legislature attempted to pa^s a bill 
allowing soldiers to vote in tht field for Stat' and National offict^is. The 
bill was opposed by the Copperheads hs unconstitutional and as " lurni.-h- 
ing tho means for the destruction of the freedom and purity of eleiiions^ 
for overthrowing our free institutions and establisl'iug in their place — as 
chance may dictate — either anaicby or despotism." The only test vote 
was 165 Union yeas, 123 Copperhead nays ; but the Supreme Cuurt having 
decided the bill unconstitutional, the subject was postponed to the next 
session. 

In 1864 a bill allowing soldiers to vote for Presidential electors and re- 
presentatives in Congress, was introduced by the Union members and 
passed. The Supreme Court decided the same to be constitutional. The 
Copperheads opposed the bill in every possible fi»rm, and every moiion 
relative to it was carried by a strict party vote, — about 175 Union to 105 
Copperhead votes. 

During the debate the remnant of the battle-flag of the New Hrimpshire 
Eleventh Regiment, which was rescued from the rebels in the desperate 
fight in the exploded mine at Petersburg, was brought into the H;ill and 
received with prolonged cheers from the Republicans; the Democrats re- 
maiiiivg silent as the grave. 

William Littlb, a Democrat from Ward 5, Manchester, warned the 
Republicans to beware of passing the bill, for the Democracy were deter- 
mined NOT TO SUBMIT to what they termed " violations of the Constitution" 
by the Republicans, he asserting that attempts to pass soldier's voting bills 
were " vio'ations of the Constitution." 

John G. Sivclair, also declared that the Democracy of the country would 
NE VER S UBMIT to the result of an election decided against them by 
SOLDIERS' votes. 

After the piissage of the bill the Copperheads induced the Governor to 
enter into an unfortunate intrigue with them and to attempt to veto the 
bill. The veto message was, however, sent to the House one day too lale^ 
and being sent in an unusual way, by a Coppeihead member instead of the 
State Secretary, the House refused to receive it. Thereupon, the Copper- 
heads ci eat ed a mob on ihe floor of the House, interrupted business for 
sfveral hours by jiotous biatuib^nces shout'ng — 'Revolution i Revolu- 
tion ! " The Supreme Court finally decided that the veto message was sent 
loo late, and that, the bill was a law with-ur, the siifnature of the Governor; 
wrhereupon the Copperheads iusulted the Court, and HARRY BINGHAM^ 
aow a Copperhead candidate tor elector, has denounced the Court as a po- 
liticHl brothel, 

Ex-President Franklin Pierce, aided by his former law partner, Josiah 
Minot, Edward W. Harrington, Copperhead candidate for Governor, who 
hoped '■^ every Union soldier would come home in a box,'' and John JI. 
George, who siys the South caiino be conquered, and he thanks God for 
it, iat'Oied iuc»saantly to d^fent t'le soldi^-is' right to vote. 

If the Franklin Pierce, George B. McClellan democracy controlled New- 
Hampshire^ how many of her soldiers would be permitted to vote in th© 
4ield« 

VERMONT. 

In the Green Mountain State the Copperhead party is so f mall and weak 
that it dared not oppose the soldiers' right to vote which was promp'Jj 



secured to tfeera by the Republican legislature. The Supreme Court l)ave 
decided the bill to be coDstitutional only so far as relates to voting for 
President and Vice President and for members of Congress. 

RHODE ISLAND. 

In Rhode Island the right of the soldier to vote has been secured by an 
amendment of the Constitution which was feebly opposed by the Demo- 
cratic party at the vote before the people, but the Copperheads of Rhod« 
Island, like those of Vermont, are powerless for actual mischief. 

CONNECTICUT. 

Governor Buckingham, in 1862, urged the Connecticut legislature to 
pass a soldier's votiug law. Such a bill was introduced and passed the 
Senate without oppositiion, it being unanimously Republican, but w^s bit- 
terly opposed by the Copperheads in the House. They demaDded, and the 
Unionists conceded, the imertion of a provision f^at the law should not 
take efff ct if determined by the Court to be unconstitutional; but after 
such provision was inserted the bill passed only by a strict party vote. 
The Court decided, by the opting vote of its Chief Justice, a member of 
the Copperhead McClellan party, that the bill was not constitutional and 
so the Copperheads defeated the soldiers' franchise for that year. 

Immediately the Unionists commenoed the work of amending the con- 
stitution, Governor Buckingham recommended and the Union members 
unanimously favored it. The Copperheads unanimously opposed it aad 
fought every step of its progress. By a party vote it passed the successive 
l^islaturee and was submitied to the people. Tbe Copperhead newspa^ 
pers opposed it and openly appealed to their partisans to defeat it. By 
these efforts of the Copperheads a large vote was casl against it, but it was 
carried, thanks to the friends of Abraham Lincoln, by a majority of 10,000 ; 
and the 8oldi»^rs of Connecticut will vote whether or not it suit such traitws 
H8 Thomas H. Seymour and Isaac Toucey. 

NEW YORK. 

The history of the struggle to secure the brave sons of the " Empire 
State'' the right of suffrage, is fresh in the minds of all. On the lOth day 
of February, 1863, a bill was introduced into the Assembly to allow tbe 
soldiers to vote. On the 17th the Copperheads commenced their factions 
opposition to it by m&tions to adjourn, &c., hoping thereby to stave it «ff 
and defeat its passage. The Union Men, however, managed to secure a 
vote which resulted in 65 Union Republican yens to 59 Copperhead n^js. 
On the next day, ho ^vever. Governor Seymour came to the rescue of 
-* his friendb" by VETOING THE BILL! accompanying his veto with a 
message, which, for low craftiness and sophii-try, defies competition, and 
is ouly equaled in its objects by another effort of his addressed to the riot- 
ers, plunderers, and murderers in New York city whom he styled as "MY 
FRIENDS." 

Tlie Union men of the Empire State continued their efforts to seciire 
he s -l.iiers the right to vote, and finally sueccKled by an amendment of 
the Constitution to accomplish that result, although the McClellan D^ 



8 

mocracy manifested the same presisteut and determined oppositioa an 
their brother Copperheads in Pennpylvania aud Otiio, by VOTING 
A€A1NST THE AMENDMENT of the Constitation by which that right 
-was secured. 

To repay (iovernor Seymour for his perfidy to the Union soldier, the re- 
bel agents at iVta^ra and Chicago, made him President and chief ORATOn. 
of the McClellan Convention ; although it was pub idy knuwn that he was 
in f u 1 followship with Vallandigham, the Woods, Long, and Hairis, and 
their pet candidate for the Presidency. 

Soldiers and Citizens of New York! are you willing to cast your votes 
for George B. McC ellan and Horatio Seymour who have been against you 
from the beginning, and thereby g ve joy and comfort to the traitois at 
Richmond ! Or will you vote for Abraham Lincoln aud Rkubbh E. 
Fenton, the standifrd bearers ofUnioa, Liber y, and Law? 

NEW JERSEY. 

The action of those few States where the Democratic party have had 
majorities in the legislatures, is especially conclusive as to the hostility of 
the McClellan Pendleton party to the soldiers' light to vote. The session 
of the New Jei8-y legislature in the spring of 1864, was besieged with 
petitions presented by Union members, and f-igned by over thirty-seven 
tkousand citizens, asking for the passage of a S' Mier's voting law. A care- 
lolly prepared bill was presented and advocated by the Uni'-n members. The 
Gopperliead mnjoriiy of the Committee on E'ections reported against the 
bid. The minority report of Messrs. Jacob Birdsall and Wi Ham A. Haa- 
©ook, Unionistfl, stated most ©Icquently and forcibly the reasons why the 
Wll should pass. 

April 6, 1864. The bill was killed by the following vote: Union, yea» 
1^ ; Democratic, nays 31 ; among which were the vote of Thomas Dunn 
English, a notorious northern rebel, and Daniel Corey, who has been hn- 
piisoned in Fort Lafayette for treasonable p' actices. 

Such is the record of the New Jersey C pperheads. Do th'C gallant 
New J^rsey soldiers, the heroes who have foug'it under the brave and no- 
ble Phil. Kearney, know why they cannot vote against the Chicago sur- 
render? 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

In the Keystone State, under old laws passed in 1813 and 1839, sol- 
diers in the field were secured the right to vor«<, and exercised the light in 
ftb« Mexican war. In 1861, also, the Union soldiers of Luzerine county 
voted for proscuting attorney. The defeated can*li<la'e carried the ques- 
tion to the Supreme Court and that Court decided the laws to be uncon- 
»tituiional and rejected the soldiers' votes. 

The opinion was delivered by Judge George W. Woodward, who, in it 
declared that the law "opens a wide door for most odious frauds;" and 
ioenltingly asserted, in answer to the argument that soldiers meiitoriously 
deserve to have their right of suffrages preserv. d and secuied to tliem, "an 
a court of justice, we cannot feel the force of any such consideration. We 
have no bounty to grant to soldiers." 

For Judge Woodward's aeal and alacrity in thus attacking the soldiers 



and tbeir riijht to votP, and for his declared sentiments directly justifyiiHf 
the southern rebellion, he was nominated by tlie D-m<c a ic pa 'y f r Grov- 
ernor in 1863, and b I'lly deft^ated by Governor Curtin. Just beioro the 
electiou George B. MeClellan wrote the followini; leit^r: 

Orange. N. J , October 12, 1864. 
lo H»n. Charles Biddle, Chairman Democratic Central Cummittee: 

Dear Sir: « « ♦ • I desire to state that, having 

some days ago had a full conTereation with Judge Wooilwaid, I find that ecu 
VIBW8 AGREED I icsrard his election as Governor of Pennsylvania as called f ■ r by 
the interest of the nation * * • I would, were it in uiy power, give 

to Judge Woodward my voice and vote. 

1 am, very respectfully, yours, 

GEORGE B. MoCLELLAN. 

Thf Unionists of the Srate — the soldiers' li^ht to vt.te un< er the old 
laws having been destioyed by Judge WoodwaM's dcfi iou — iiiimefiiately 
origiuaied an amenHmeut to the Constitution whicli in due < ourse passed 
the Legislature in 18t)3. In 1864, as required by the Const.iiuti-'n, it again 
passed ihe leg'slaiure and was submitted to t'le jieuplf, T e vo e in the 
Senate was — yeas 18, Uiiiohists and Republicms ; n lys 7, all Copper- 
heads; and 8 Coppei heads dodged. Two ot the Coppei heads were dele- 
gates to the CMic,;^go i.'oi!veution. 

Ttie mnjoriiy beore the people in favor of the amendment was 94,60*7, 
with the same results observable in the vote t'lat ex:st^<l in Miine, The 
largest inaJMrilies f.r tie amendment weie in th^ R pui lican st ong olds, 
and the only raajoriiies ag^iinstiit were in the Coppei head cuumits. 

UNION COUNTIES. 

Majorities for soldiers voting. 

Lancaster 8933 

Alleghany 8976 

Bradford 4741 

Erie 394ft 

Chester 4932 

Indiana -2807 

Delaware 2108 

Tioga :. 3127 

SuBquehanua 2829 



COPPERHEAD rOUNTIES. 
Majorities against soldiers voting. 

Berks 1934 

Columbia 1020 

Cambria 514 

Clearfield 783 

Lehi«h 1023 

Moirroe 1186 

Northam|iton 698 

Pike 674 

Wayne 777 

The Pennsylvania sold'crs voted at the election in Oetober and will vote 
for President and Vi.e Pr sident on the 8th of November, but do tHey 
owe tl'eir right to vote to the Copperhead party, to Judge George W. 
Woodward, or to George B. Mc Clellan ? 



DELAWAKE. 

In little Delaware, in which the Copperheads and traito'S still control 
the Legi.laiure, of course the Union soldier has not bee^i allowed the right 

to vole. 

At a special session of the Legislature in 1862, Mr, H. H, Appleton, a 
Union member of iheH'>use. introduced a b'li PdtithH, "An As 8*-c.iiring 
the right of suffrage to volunteers from this State." Febru ry 6, 1862, 
the vote was taken on its final passage and the bill was deteat»-d — 10 
Union } eas, 1 1 Copperhead naye. 



10 

Sucli iiijufitic-^' 86 tViie towards the Union soUliers ini/ht be expected of 
* LfgisI ,tiiro wliich by a strict jiarty vote indefinitely postponed resolu- 
lioiiB Hppr.iviiig the cjnilui t of Major Robert Auders n in defe' ding Fort 
Sumter, wliifli refuses to aid the poor and sufferir^ fnniiliHS of Unitm yo\- 
unte.TH, ur t'> pur. base a lot at the Gettysburg Cemetery for the iuteiment 
of I'd iwHie's n.jble dead. 

Wi y yhoulii such Copperheads desire to allow the soldiers to vote ? 

OHIO. 

In Oliio, at the be ^inBing of the rebellion, by the patriotic and volun- 
tary HctijD of tbe R pahli ans in waiving their party orgHnizatioii, the 
St^t^ WHS carried at tlie election in 1861 by a laige majority for the Union 
caiidi 'Hte f<^ Governor, Divid Tod, and a legislntue was chosen without 
referenc'i to old piity distinctions, containing a large Uuion majority, com- 
posed of nearly as m^ny members of Democratic as o' Republican an- 
lec+'dentP, the former preto-iding to be warmly in fnvor of ihe prosecution 
ofihe wnr and of soldiers^ riffkts. During the Legislative session, Feb- 
ruary *26, 1802, a sol iiei's voting bill was introduced «nd referred hy the 
Spt'hker lo three war Democrats^ who had pai I S|)eci il attention to the 
sul'j*-ct, Hhd pro''»?8ed extreme friendship for the bill. This committee re- 
Isine I the bill five weeks, and reported it only two days before the time 
fixed for adjdurnmeut, and too late for careful consideration, and by the 
votes of ^oth parlies and by general consent the bill was postponed to the 
next scfsion. 

At the session in 1863, the De-^ocrats not da iag to oppose the bill 
<.>pen!y. endeavored to kid it by indirection, A Copi'erh.aii amendment 
wa* offered, that no soldier s vote shovld be cast for an officer in the military 
•ervice, and voUd down — 18 Democatic year^, 1 Dem)caiic and 51 
[Jnion nays. The Copp^-rheads endeavored lo a'tach a particular amend- 
ment m the n -nge and failed. The Senate adopted the haine amendment, 
and in ih^ Ib.use, the Copperheads knowing that a disagreement between 
thp two Houses would defeat the bill entirely, now vote 1 against iheir own 
amend tn-'Ut, which the House, to save the bill, consented to adopt, « earl7 
all the Ui.oo members and 1 Democrat voting tor it. and 23 Democrats 
against It. 

In the first elections held after the passage of the 'aw, there were many 
conn'ie^ whHrc the Dimocrnts had a majority on the honii vut'-, but the 
Un'OM cHiidid^tes wcr^ elected by the home and soldiers vote. In many 
Buch cH9'<s Copperhead county clerks unlawfully aid frauduleniy gave 
oertific; 'e^ of election to the defeated Copperhend c mdidat. s, and this dis- 
regHid of the soldier^-' voting law caused many electio.ip to he c .n tested 
befor- lh.t c .urts, and in the Legislature, wh. r- Copperhead c tiididates 
were d.-t rmiiieii to hold oflii-e against the will of a niajoiily of the h-gal 
roU-rH of t'leir rnopective coui-ties. 

lirtfofM the Supr.mH Court th« counsel prominent in attempting to 
d.f- .t iIm. Hol.Jk^rK' ri^rht whs T. W. Birtley, now h MClellan and Pen- 
dlelnn 'v.'wiicial.- for R .-.•tor at large. He not only aiiriied i.liat. the t>ill waa 
uiiconHtititional, bu. thnt ii wai* impolitic and destructive of ihe liberties 
o/tAr /«o/)/^. that Mllowinjr (he citixen soldiery of the c .uiitiy, wi o have 
lett Kiel, h..„,..K and a e hacrificuig their lives tosiv- th-, liberties of the 
ooui.t y. t. vote won d m:.ko ihe people "the sb»ves of desp tic power I" 



11 

" There is not an instance upon record, in any ag^ or country, in which p tp" 
ulnr afovemment has been preserved any considemble length of time after 
the evercise of the eleolive franchise has been bt^stowed up n the army in 
the field." As if the fiCe soldier voters of the IJiiion are to be compared 
to the slavish population of old Rorae or modern France, and tho 1 berlies 
of the people and popular government are dependent upon the political 
asceu' ency of Vallondiyham^ Pendleton, and Fernando Wood, and the 
nucoes-* of the bloody de^poli8m oi' Jefferson Davis/ 

Foitunately the Supiime Court sustained the law. Judge Raney, the 
only Democrat on the bench, alone dissenting; and the soldiers ot Oi»io 
have the right to vote on the field, as their 40,000 votes for John Bruiigh 
and 2,000 votes for Clement L. Vallandigham have appri>ed the country. 

In the contested elections in the Legislature the Coppeihtr-ad.* umfnimly 
voted to deprive the soldiers of the right which they had exercised to sus- 
tain the most glaring frauds upon the ballot box, and to keep in office 
Copperheads against the will of the people and soldiers of Ohio, particu- 
larly in a case where h Copperhead had obtained his certificate by a forged 
poll-book, proved to be fraudulent by the oath of the captain, fkat lieu- 
tenant, and first sergeant of the company, who made the lawful return, 
and by a comparison of the forged with the genuine poll book and the 
muster roll of the coraany. 

A bill being introduced into the Legislature to amend the former law 
and prevent fiaud, was objected to by the Copperheads on the ground of 
the unconstitutionality of all soldier's voting bills, and was passed by a 
strict party vote, all the Union members voting for it, and nearly all the 
Copperheads ag-iinst it. 

Thus have the Democrats of Ohio, by delaying the passage of a soldier's 
voting bill, which at first they did not dare openly appose, by disputing 
the constitutionality of the bill both before and after a deci ions aj^ainat 
them by the court, by sustaing desperate and wicked ftnuds uuon the 
soldiers' right, a^d opposing all measures designed to prevent a repetition 
of such frauds, proved the utter hypocrisy of their pretended sxrapathy 
with and friendship for the soldier ; at last, taking a po>iiion against the 
soldiers' right to vote in any form, a^ boldly as Clement L. Vall.iuditchara, 
George II. Pendleton, an'i Alexander Long, have declared their treason 
against the Constitution and Government for whi -h the soldiers are fight- 
ing. 

Is it any wonder that such men fear the Ohio soldiers' right to vote ? 

MICHIGAN. 

In January, 1864, a bill allowing Michigan soldiers the right to vote 
during the present war and no longer, was originated and supported by 
the entire Union Rapuhlican party and resisted, upon the usual pretexts, 
by every Copperhead. The Dctriot Free Press, and the entire Copper- 
head press, oppose the passage of tht) bill. E. G. Morton, of Monroe, the 
leading Demt.crat in the House of Representatives, opposed the bill in a 
lengthy spech. Senat-rs W. A. Clark and W.E. PFerner, Copperheads, 
imitating Bartly, of Ohio, said : " No Government evt-r survived the vote 
of its armies." Febr a .ry 3d, a Copperhead named Gidley moved that the 
title of the Act le : " A bill to teach our soldiers in the field their p')litical 
duty, our people a disregard of Constitution and law, and to muke our 



12 

ele jiona a farce." But the Union Men adhered to the bill, answ^rrd fa'riy 
all tile C'PfiHi head arjuments, and paseed ihc^ bill by a party v. t — 18 
Uiiicin, 10 Copperhead Seuators ; 69 Union, 23 Copperhead Represeiita- 
tives vol fit?. 

Lucius Fatterson, a leading Copperhead and delegate to a D^m^crHtit 
Coiiveuuoii in Kt'iit couiity, u^ed, in lef'erence to the C<>p|>t-ih->id State 
nomiiiatiitiis, the foil. >wiiig language : "We must insike a srong tici>et, 
and if theae damned soldiers dou't eet back to vote, we shall c;irrv the 

George W. Peck, a former member of Conerres*, the most promineni 
Dfiiiocrwi in the ISrate, and chairman c<f the Michigan delegaii'.n at the 
Chi(tag..Con\etii!on, said in a speech in March, 1863, before the Lansing 
Dcmueiaiia Association : 

"You Black Republicans began this war. You have carried it on for two 
years. You have sent your uell hounds down South to devastate the country, 
and what have you done? You have not conquered the South. You NEVKK 
CAN conquer them. Aud why ? Because they are our brethren." 

Sut h men, and the party to which they b lot g, could not well do oiher- 
wiie than oppose the right of soldiers in the field to vote. 

ILLINOIS. 

Illinois is one of those Slates where by unjust districting, the C pper- 
hea'ls. although r.'p idinted by the popular vote, have retained romr •! of 
the L-siislalure, and have therefore prevented the p .ssage of a soldier's 
voting law. Goveiner Richard Yates, in January, 18e3, forijibly urged the 
Letjis-latuie to p ss such a law, and petitions for the same result p )ured 
int > ihe L^gisi;iture foni all parts of the State. T le Union Tntmhers 
UT'j' d action, the C< ppei heads delayed it. Tlie petitions were referred by 
Cppe'hea) votes to the Judiciary Committee which made \\> report. 
The Uiii »i is s offered re^olutiOBS demanding a report, which at bsi caiue. 
The C pperhead m^joiity of course opposing the bill as uuconaliru'ional, 
and «sseiting t 'at to ifivest the so'ditr with the aight to vot"^, would be 
dangerous to public liberty. The Union minority claimed that the pro- 
posed law was cor stiiuiional, and denouiictd ihe C<pp-iheads u r detam- 
ing the 6t)ldiHrs who weie [lerilling life aud limb lor the benefit of the 
comniom country and humanity. 

]n tie det'at-i and on ihe vote the Union members sufported the bill, 
and. a I the Democrats oppostid it. One prominent Demoernt said: "I 
will >ever vote to allow the soldiers the right to tt/rannize over me. Who 
are ihcs" so diers ? Th'^y nve organized ruffians and thieves sent by Lin- 
coln into ihe South on an Abolition crusade," 

The Union niembe's urged thnt a sol lier's voting law be passed, to be 
void if t»ie Supreme Court decided is to be unconsntutional, f>ut the Cop- 
perheads, although a niajority of the Couit were D-mocrats, defeited tliie 
propo>ili 'n. VII the Union newspapers of the State advocated the 
mta^ule, and the Democratic papers pposed it. 

Thus, in the h ^me of Abraham Linioln and of the lamented Stephen A. 
Doiig'a-", who on his dying coucl". said : " A 7nan cannot be a tiue Dem- 
ociut unletiS he is a lin/al patriot" Copp-rheads calling themselves Dem- 
oc rts have prevented su h men as the gallant John A. Logan and the 
Bol'le fcoUliers of Illinois from voting because it would be "dangerous to 
pui'lic liberty." 



18 

WISCONSIK. 

In Wisconsin, in the fall of 1862, Governor Solomon calleH an extra 
wssi m ot the Legislature fur the purpose of iocreasuig the S'^ldirra' pay, 
and allowed them the right to vole in the field. Id his message he said : 

"The views of these brave and patriotic men should be heard through the ballot- 
box and should have proper weight in shaping the destinies of our imperilled 
country. Justice seems to demand that they should be rewarded in a different 
manner for their patriotism than by a loss of one of the most important rights of 
citizenship, especially in the present crisis." 

The Ct'ppei heads den >unced the bill as " one of the most dangerous and 
mischi''V0u.s political mensures ever devised," and a'so opp ised it as ua- 
constitutsoual. The Att .rney General of State fumishtd the Ai^femhly 
with a cle-ar and convincing • p nion, that the bill was constituiional, but 
the Copperh-ads still opposed the bill, their newspapers attacked if, and 
parliainei tary tactics were resorled to in ord«r so defeat it ; bur. ht f^s-t, in 
Sept^inbpr, 1862, it passed — 19 Unionists to 7 Copp^rhtals lu thcs Senate, 
and 52 Uuiunists to 40 Cpperheads in the Asseiubly. 

THE CONCLUSION OF THE WHOLE MATTER. 

Am inquiry relative to the right to vote of the soldiers from other loyal 
States, wh(»s« record on this subject has not been stated, would not m ite- 
rially alter the general conclusious to be drawn from a survey of the whole 
field. 

In M><8sachu8ett8 the present constitution does not allow the passage oi 
a eohiierb' V(»ti 'g law, a"d the process of amending the cotistituiion is so 
diflBcult that the light could not be secured to the boldier in less tiian two 
or tiiren years. 

In Cnliforni^f, Iowa, Minnesota, and Missouri, by the efi'orts of the Union- 
ists, and airainst the opposition of the Cobperheads, the soldiers' light to 
vote has been more or less perfectly secured. 

Ill Indiana the Legislature, controlled by treasonable Copp^rhfails who 
have resisted ev^ry att.= mpt of the people's Governor, OliVcir P. Morton, to 
raise men and money for the support of the Government and the desliuc- 
tion of the rebellion, has refused the Union soldier the right to vote. 

The c .nclusion of the whole matter may be stated in a few words : 

ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND ANDREW ' JO HNS ON ARE 
FRIENDS OF THE SOLDIERS' RIGHT TO VOTE. 

The Union Republicans of the loyal States have uniformly ^ind persistently 
advocated the soldiers' right to vote. In States where the Unionists have 
had a innjoriiy they have originated soldiers' voting bills ; their newspapers 
and puhlic speakers h.ive urged their passage; if constitutional objei-tions 
have been made they have contended for their constitat onal.ty in leg sla- 
tures and before courts ; if real constitutional difficulties have existed they 
have proposed and carried through the necessary constitutional amend- 
ments; and, at list, after encountering innumerable difficulties and over- 
coming unyielding Copperhead hostility, the right of the Union sold er to 
vote for Presidential electors has been established in the conti oiling States 



14 

of NEW YORK, PENNSYLVANIA, and OHIO, and (ex epting Mas- 
Bachuse fsfor reasons before sta-ed) IN EVERY OTdER STATE W HERE 
THE UNION REPUBLICAN PARTY HAS HAD COMPLETE PO- 
LITICAL CON 1 ROL. In short, ABRAHAM LINCOLN and bis suppor- 
ters staud to-day as tlic distinct, positive and unqualified champions of 
THE soldiers' RIGHT TO VOTE. IdIo the hands ot the Union soldiers in ihe 
field ihey liave pUced the decision of the Presidential oontesl ot 1864, and 
do not fear to await the result ! 



GEOEGE B. McCLELLAN AND GEORGE H, PENDLETON 
AEE ENEMIES OF THE SOLDIERS' RIGHT TO VOTE. 

On the other hand the McClellan Democrats of the North have been 
from the brginuing of the rebellion persistent and detei mined opponents 
of the soldiers' right to vote. During the first year of the war, and in one 
or two Stales where they have been in a hopelt-ss minority, ihey have 
mfidb their opposition secretly or upon hypocritical prttet^res. But with 
only this qualification the Copperhead leaders have aitai:ked the soldi r»' 
riij^tii at all times, in all places, and undt-r all circumstances; <len"Uiiceiiig 
soldiers' voting laws as unconstitutional, and if coustitutional, as inexi^edient, 
IMPOLITIC, and DANGEROUS TO LIBERTY; ait-mpting to deieat them 
by disliou^Ft and disgraceful expedients; and besides and wors- than t'lis 
malii^iiHrit tiostility to their right to vote, attacking, slandering, and 

DEFAMING THE SOLDIERS THEMSELVES, whose absence figl.tHiiT Hjiailist 

rebels Hi tile S )utb, prevents them from repelling these cowariiy asuau ts 
from rebels at home. Thes-^ McCiellau Democrats tiave opposed th^ sul- 
dieis' rigtit to vote in every State where the rigtit has been tstfiblishHd'by 
Union majorities, and in Illinois, Indiana, New Jersey, and Delawarb, 
theonl} SbHt-s where there has been an absolu'.e C. 'ppeihead legial .tive 
m jonty, notwithstanding the earnest efforts of the Uniomsrs of those 
State?, h- soldieis have been refused and defrauded of their just and con- 
stitutional rii/ht to vote. In short Georg« 13 M Clel an, mow a vlajor- 
G-uera! ja the Union Army,, and his siip'orteis -itand to dny «■« open, bit- 
ter maUqnant RNEMIES OF THE RIGHT OF THE SOLDIERS OF 
THAT UNION ARMY TO VOTE. Iti the bauds of she.e ..o . e -..Mi rs 
upo 1 whose faii,hfulaa/s and bravery, upon whose siifterings and d^ wth 
depend the momentous questiou whethei there shall be saved a C ust'tu- 
tion, a Uuion, or a countrv for the American people, the VlcCleilan Cop- 
pertieadb dare not also trusr. the decision whether ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
or Major-General GEORGE B. McCLELLAN shall be the next President 
of t''e U»dted States. 

Soldiers of thf Union, upon your action depHnda the fate of this na- 
ticni. You can by bullet and bayonet destroy the southern rebellion nud 
secuie tile blessings of pea^-e and a restored and perpetual Union to your- 
selves and the people of the wjiole country. You will also decide the 
result of the Presidential election now at hand. In the grent ceiitr.'il 
S>ate.-, #hich will settle the contest, and in most of the other loyal StHies 
the sofd'ers have been sscu.cd the right to vote by the persistent efl'oits of 
thone Union citizens, who bel eve that those who fight for theii couniry, 
•h.uld aiso be allowed lo vote while fighting. The political sentiment 
which will, therefore, be formed in the army, will long before the election 



15 

Mnd to the people at home a moral impulse, \9hich will have a controlling 
influence upuu the home vote, and determine the result in the couutry. 

With these great ffsnlts in your hands — the deatruction of the lebellion 
and the election vt rulers of the nation — it js the hope and faith of every 
tru-^ Union citizeu thnt while with victorious armb you are conquering the 
rebeilon in your froa , you will also by emphatic and patriotic votes re- 
buke the enim es in the rear, who would seek to negotinte a peace by the 
surrender of aH thit your valor has conquered, and that you will elect those 
candidates whose nomination was not cheereH, and whose election will 
not b- applauded by the rebel armies — ABRAHAM LINCOLN and 
ANDREW JOHNSON. 

Citizens of the Union, you are called upon for the first time to vote 
for a President and Vice President while the country is engaged in a war 
for iis e^cistence among the nations of the earth. Your soldiers iu the field 
have been secured the right of suffrage, and will vote on the 8th of No- 
vember. Will you vote as conscientiously and as fearlessly as they? 
The questions at issue in the political contest are the same as these for 
which they are fighting. Let not the people at borne desert theii soldiers 
in the army, but let them ascertain their seatiments, realize their convic- 
tion«, hih) iet the verdict on election day show that the PEOPLE and the 
SOLDIERS art^ one and undivided, opposed to TREASON and REBEL- 
LION, U(Ji>osed to COWARDLY SURRENDER and DISHONOR, and in favor of 
mauitnininor, »< ali hazin's, without compromise with traitors in arms, the 
CONSTITUTION AND THE UNION OF THE UNITEiJ STATES. 



PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN OF 1884. 

UNION CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE. 



Hon. K I). MOROAN. of New York 

'• J AS. Harlan, of lowa. 

- L. M.MORRILL, of Maine. 
{Senate.) 



Hon. R B. WasHBURNR, ofllliooig. 
" R.B. VAN VALKEN BURG, N.T. 
♦' J. A. GARFIELD, of Ohio. 
" J. G. BLAINE, of Maine. 
(House of Representatives \ 
E. D. MOnGAN, Chairman. JA8. HARLAN, Treasurer. I). N. COOLEY, S««'y. 



CoMMirrEE Rooms, Washington, D. C, Sept. 2, 1864. 
Dear Sir : The Uninn Congressional Committee, in addition to 
the documents already published, propose to issue immediately 
the following documents for distribution among the people : 

1. McClellan's Military Career Reviewed and Exposed. 

2. George H. Pendleton, his Disloyal Record and Antecedents. 

3. The Chicago Copperhead Convention, the Men who Com- 

posed and Controlled it. 

4. Base Surrender of the Copperheads to the Rebels in Arms. 

5. The Military and Naval Situation and the Glorious Achieve- 

ments of our Soldiers and Sailors. 

6. A Few Plain Words with the Private Soldier. 

7. What Lincoln's Administration has done. 

8. Tlie History of McClellan's "Arbitrary Arrest" of the Mary- 

land Legislature. 

9. Can the Country Pay the Expenses of the War? 

10. Doctrines of the Copperheads North identical with those of 
the Rebels South.' 

11. The Constitution Upheld and Maintained. 

12. Rebel Terms of Peace. 

13. Peace to be Enduring, must be Conquered. 

14. A History of Cruelties and Atrocities of the Rebellion. 

15. Evidences of a Copperhead Conspiracy in the Northwest 

16. Seward's Auburn Speech. 

17. Schurz's Speech. 

18. Copperhead votes in Congress. 

19. " Leave Pope to get out of his Scrape." 
2^. Shall we have an Armistice? 

The above documents will be printed in English and German, 
in eight or sixteen page pamphlets, and sent postage free, accord- 
ing to directions, at tlie rate of one or two dollars per hundred 
copies. The plans and purposes of the Copperheads having been 
disclosed by the action of the Chicago Convention, they should 
at once be laid before the loyal people of the country. There is 
but two months between this and the election, and leagues, clubs, 
and individuals should lose no time in sending in their orders. 

Remittances should be made in Greenbacks or drafts on New 
York City, payable to the order of James Harlan. 
Address — Free. 

Hon. JAMES HARLAN, ' 

Washington., D. C. 
Yery respectfully, yours, ifec, 

D, N. COOLEY, Secretary 



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